Matters 19th Century

I was listening to one of the highly recommended History Network podcasts on my Sunday morning walk. This one covered the history of the torpedo and briefly mentioned that the first successful torpedo attack in history was during the Russo-Turkish War. The naval aspects of this conflict have largely passed me by.

On January 25, 1878, two Russian steam cutters “Chesma” and “Sinop”, successfully sank the Turkish ship “Intibach”. The steam cutters belonged to the steamboat “Grand Prince Konstantin”, the fastest Russian ship of the Black Sea Fleet. The commander of the steamboat, Lieutenant Stepan Makarov, was genuinely interested in new technologies and new weapons, having already completed a number of operations against the Turkish fleet. More on this clash here.

On the subject of 19th Century conflicts, SteveBarber Models have brought out a new range of 28mm figures for the 1848 revolutionary wars. Needless to say the Hungarian figures caught my eye, they look fabulous. Austrian's are on the way.

I was tempted to try this when Ralf Weaver brought out his book on the subject (Hungarian Army 1848-49 from Partizan Press), but couldn't settle on a figure range to convert. This new range settles that problem when you consider that it will be perfect for Sharp Practice 2.

While on this subject I should also give a mention to Outpost Miniatures, Russo-Turkish War range. They have added Romanians to the range, again very nice.